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Uber appeal result has wider implications for worker rights

Nigel Mackay, partner in Leigh Day’s employment team, said:

“This is the third time that the drivers have been victorious in their fight for workers’ rights but Uber has yet to give their drivers what three legal decisions have ruled they are entitled to – holiday pay and to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.

“We hope that Uber now faces up to its responsibilities instead of spending time and money in the courts attempting to deny its drivers these rights.”

If Uber decides not to take the case to the Supreme Court, around 60,000 drivers will become eligible to receive the minimum wage and holiday pay. Trade Union GMB has calculated this could be worth around £18,000 per driver.

There had been concerns that had Uber’s appeal been successful it would have wider implications for the ‘gig economy’, which often leads to a lack of job security for workers.

Speaking ahead of the October hearing, Farrar told The Guardian that “the real danger is that if Uber gets its way with this business model, they will expand it throughout the economy and everybody will be working under these conditions”.

Meanwhile, in separate events, Transport for London announced this morning that private hire vehicles, including Uber, will have to pay the London congestion charge.